


Rakuyou

by MalikShah



Series: Untranslateable [2]
Category: Gintama
Genre: (for Takasugi that is), First Time, Gintoki is very bad at feelings, Joui War, M/M, Sakamoto being mistreated once again, Sexual Content, outdated One Piece spoilers, this is bordering on explicit but idk if it's really that explicit?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:01:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27329218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalikShah/pseuds/MalikShah
Summary: He can't help leering at Takasugi's lithe backside. The water running down his spine and over the firm ass Gintoki feels like grabbing. And he knows what Takasugi is doing. Like hell Gintoki is letting himself be manipulated like this! His brain sits between his ears and not between his legs!Where Gintoki realizes some parts of his body have been compromised.
Relationships: Sakata Gintoki/Takasugi Shinsuke
Series: Untranslateable [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995322
Comments: 12
Kudos: 53





	Rakuyou

**Author's Note:**

> Started making it. Had a breakdown. Bon appetite.

Gintoki is squatting on a mountain ledge, overlooking the vast forest stretched out before him. The early morning mist has still not settled down and gives his surroundings an eerie feeling, despite the red and gold colors of the trees. He rubs his hands together in an attempt to warm them up. 

“This fucking sucks,” he mutters to himself and wipes his runny nose on his sleeve. 

Squinting his eyes, he can make out a moving mass of black dots in the distance. In all probability those dots belong to the 42nd division of the… the… 

Well, whoever they are planning on wiping out next. Or are they just supposed to track them? Gintoki feels like his brain has started to grow mold over the past few days; crawling through rain and mud without a single night of actual rest. It’s the first day in a while with the sky clear and his clothes dry. Still, the temperature has significantly dropped since last week.

Leaves rustle as Zura approaches him from behind, his slight limp obvious in the way he moves. Gintoki glances up to him where he stops close by.

“What do you think, Gintoki? Why did they leave so suddenly?” He nods in the general direction of the moving mass of black dots.

With a shrug, Gintoki brushes a few wet leaves from his feet. “Who knows? Maybe they realized there is nothing to gain here. We barely passed three houses in the last two days. Should we follow?”

Zura folds his arms over his chest and knits his brows as if deep in thought. A pointless gesture, in Gintoki’s opinion. He is damn sure the fool has never used the thing in his head a single day in his life.

“I guess we should wait for Takasugi and Sakamoto before we decide anything.”

Gintoki scoffs. “Who knows when they’ll return? By then the entire Amanto army's moved to the other side of the country.”

He can’t help the irritated twitch of his eyebrow at the thought of Takasugi and Sakamoto, parading around in some town to  _ “gain people and goods for their cause” _ . As if Sakamoto isn't chasing after girls and entertainment the entire time and Takasugi… 

Well. The thought of Takasugi doing anything at all makes Gintoki scowl. The last time they saw each other a week ago was weird and unfulfilling. Not that Gintoki is mulling over the fact that Takasugi didn’t even say goodbye or anything. 

"Are you constipated? You are making weird faces, Gintoki."

Zura looks down on him (it's never good when he does that; physically or figuratively) with a slight frown.

Pushing himself up from his squatting position, Gintoki rubs his hands together once more before turning around. "We should probably wait for the others. As we are right now, we can't do shit, anyway."

The few men left without major injuries all stand together in their hastily prepared camp. Most of their wounded have been left behind in one of the houses on their way and many more are dead. Gintoki sighs at the sorry bunch before him. 

“It’s not even November and I’m already freezing my balls off.”

“It’s not that cold,” Zura says as if to defend the weather's honor.

“Shut it," Gintoki snaps back. "I wanna take a yuzu bath with a beautiful girl massaging my sore shoulders while reading the latest  _ Jump _ magazine. Or she reads it to me with different voices for the characters.” He can almost smell it, even though his last yuzu bath was three years ago and there certainly haven’t been any girls around.

Zura snorts. “Beautiful girl?”

“Yes, beautiful girl. I know beautiful girls!” He might not be as popular anymore since his personal hygiene is a little lacking (he’s fighting a war) and his creator handicapped him with a natural perm he hasn’t cut in a while (he’s fighting a war) but he’s still as charming as ever.

Next to him, Zura shrugs. “I just thought your definition of ‘beautiful girl’ changed into ‘beautiful Takasugi’. Can’t say I share the sentiment but I’m not judging.”

Gintoki feels like he’s been hit by Truck-kun, the convenient plot device to kill off high schoolers all around the anime world. He struggles to keep upright and takes a single step in Zura’s direction.

“Hey, hey, hey, wh- what are you-” he sputters before simply grabbing Zura’s shoulders. He shakes him a little before Zura slaps his hands away. 

“Calm down, Gintoki. Just because you’re doing ***** with Takasugi and also ***** with ***** and some ******* while he’s *****, doesn’t mean I have a problem with it.”

_ Oiiii, no one said anything about doing any of this! _

Gintoki starts to shake Zura harder. “Who told you this?!”

The smug look settling on Zura’s face makes Gintoki want to push him off the cliff. 

“Please, who do you take me for? You weren’t exactly lying low. And you clash a lot less lately. Sakamoto thinks it’s his doing but even Yamato admits that it’s unlikely that Sakamoto is doing anything but making things worse.” 

“Who the hell is Yamato?” 

Zura simply goes on as if Gintoki didn’t speak. 

If anything, he picks up pace. 

“You know as much as I do that Takasugi can look after himself. Probably better than you and I ever could. Remember when we first met? I think he would have beat up those kids back then, he’s really stupid like that. He hates it when people tell him how to behave. Ah, I guess he’s not that good at taking care of himself, after all. He’s just a good-for-nothing brat like everyone else here. Anyway, I still feel compelled to remind you that if you pull any shit on him I might have to beat  _ you _ up. It’s very obvious that he’s out of his depth with you and him ****** and doing ******* among other things.” 

He interrupts his rant to give Gintoki a meaningful look. 

“Consider this as an advice: Don’t make him regret leaving his comfort zone to finally face you head-on. He’s been avoiding the issue for years now. I mean I get it, we were kids back then and somehow everything felt like the end of the world. Crushing on your rival when you only started growing hair down there sure must have been a shock. I remember thinking that there was no sense to keep on living when Sakai-san told me she thinks I’m a good kid. Remember Sakai-san? She lived down the street, her husband fell in the war and I brought her mochi because she always looked so sad. Well, I thought I was already a grown man back then, so her calling me  _ kid _ felt like a punch to the face. Can’t say I don’t know where Takasugi is coming from. Weird how loyal he seems to be, though, don’t you think? I thought he got over you after the swordsmith’s son but he’s so obvious in everything he does. I told him he should do something about it, hormones in puberty can cause all kinds of trouble. Well, what was I trying to say?”

Gintoki stops him by forcing his palm over Zura’s mouth. “Zura, are you fucking high right now? Did you shit your brain out earlier? Do you want me to put you to rest forever?”

Zura pries Gintoki’s hand away and spits on the ground. 

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura. And I would never smoke anything unsavory! A samurai has to stay clear-headed at all times!”

“The only thing you’re headed at is straight to hell!”

Gintoki’s mind is reeling. He tries to make sense of what Zura just said and everything he thought he knew. Not only is Zura aware of the fact that Takasugi and him are, well, the fact that there is an  _ and _ between them; he’s also been aware of it long before Gintoki himself had any idea. Apparently  _ long long _ before.

Did Takasugi talk to Zura about it? 

Despite everyone telling him he has quite the imaginative mind and “lives in a delusional fantasy world”, even Gintoki can’t bring himself to muster up the idea of Takasugi and Zura talking about ...it. Him.  _ Feelings. _ Takasugi would kill Zura if he ever opened his mouth with such intent. Hell, Takasugi will kill Zura  _ and _ him if he ever learns that Zura just spilled quite the beans. 

“Zura-”

“Katsura-san!!”

Annoyed at the interruption, at such a crucial moment as well, Gintoki turns to the pest running up to them.

“Katsura-san!” the man calls out again as if they hadn’t heard him the first time. Just who is this no-name extra?

“Ah, Yamato. What’s the matter?”

Yamato? What Yamato?!

“Katura-san, big trouble!”

Coming to a stop right before them, Yamato gasps for air before acknowledging Gintoki with a quick bow. 

“Gintoki-san, Katsura-san, we’ve run into big trouble! On the other side of the mountain!”

Gintoki glances back to where he’s been watching the 42nd Amanto division moving north, away from their current location. Did he miss something?

As if reading Gintoki’s mind, Yamato stumbles through an explanation. 

“We split up to check the surroundings like Katsura-san ordered us to do. Most of the area seems to be unhabitatanted but on the other side of the mountain a few men found a hot springs valley. They followed the stream east to an inn in the middle of the valley. The inn is swamped with an Amanto division! Ikeda told us they couldn’t make out the division’s sigil but they seem to harass the owner and his family. Sato-san and Nakamura-san stayed back to keep an eye on the situation but Ikeda says it doesn’t look good for the family. The father seems to defy the Amantos.”

Gintoki shares a quick glance with Zura before both of them nod at Yamato. 

“Lead the way, Yamato,” Zura orders curtly. 

Gintoki leaves the ordering and strategizing to Zura as he sprints to the other side of the camp to catch up with Ikeda who Gintoki remembers to be his fellow  _ Jump _ connoisseur. Gintoki usually acts as the vanguard while Zura and Takasugi do all the planning and turning up at the last minute, anyway. No one expects him to wait while Zura gathers the men. 

As he runs after Ikeda to the lookout, he tries to recall his surroundings from the map he looked at yesterday. They’re currently located between the Golden Forest and the Kashine Slope. There wasn’t a spot marked as an inn or any hot springs on the map as far as he can recall. 

They soon approach Sato and Nakamura lying on their bellies as the golden trees of the forest give way to a rather sudden slope. Crouching down beside them, Gintoki follows suit in peering down into the valley before them.

There are indeed hot springs. He counts seven pools in total. Some bigger, some smaller. Most of them are connected by stone paths, others with boardwalks. He sees several houses, plain and unassuming, mostly hidden by the bamboo thicket surrounding everything. There is also a stable but no horses. 

Despite the clear sky with its bright sun it’s hard to make out much more through the mix of steam rising from the various hot spring pools and the lingering morning mist.

What Gintoki first assumed was a large rock formation turns out to be the main inn. After Sato points it out to him he also recognizes the two-legged shapes moving on and about. 

He wiggles his fingers at Sato for the binoculars.

There are at least ten Amantos at the main inn. Another eight scattered across the valley. A woman is kneeling before another group a little further away, crying and begging with a girl around his age just sitting stock still next to her.

The only humans he can see so far.

“What should we do, Gintoki-san?” Nakamura whispers to his left. “The situation with the woman seems unstable. They dragged the father in one of the houses a while ago.”

Gintoki’s lips quirk up in a smirk. “Seems like we stumbled upon an outpost. No wonder the rest of them moved on.” If they established an outpost here, there must be something valuable to gain here. They might even offer information. Obviously not on their own free will but Gintoki can be persuasive. At least the old lady back in the fishing village told him as much when he wrung another dango from her. Also, he  _ did _ get Takasugi to use his mouth for something other than nagging him. The memory of that night gives Gintoki both: an excited pull in his stomach and a sour taste in his mouth. Right, that’s the reason they are currently not talking with each other. Or more like, Takasugi did not talk to him before he left, the childish bastard. Gintoki apologized! Multiple times! He even meant the last one!

“Sato, Nakamura,” Gintoki starts without taking the binoculars from his eyes. “You follow me. I’ll distract the guys and you go to the women. Get them away and try to get them to talk to you. There must be more people than just three.” Finally, he puts the binoculars down and glances over to Ikeda. 

“Stay here and wait for Zura and the others.”

He doesn’t wait for an answer from either of them before getting up and turning right to where he saw a trail down the mountain earlier. It should lead right to the wooden gate between the stable and the first pool. If he enters from there he’s going to be in plain view.

In hindsight, Gintoki realizes that there is a reason he’s not much involved in planning and strategizing. The only thing he’s really good at is running headfirst in trouble and then cutting down what is right in front of him which leaves his back, obviously, wide open. 

Alerting the entire area of his presence also means for every single Amanto in hearing distance to run his way. He doesn’t even have time to check for Sato and Nakamura at his back, too busy to defend the very same. 

A particularly annoying Amanto seems to be constantly seizing his back for attacks and he soon ends up fighting with his literal back to the literal wall. A trail of blood and bodies is left in his wake and he stumbles through the inn where he shouts at the two children and another girl around his age to run. 

He’s had it worse before but things could also be better. He kicks an approaching Amanto in the face and uses the momentum to slice through the two at his back. 

“Do they breed you fuckers in here?” he hisses when five more of them turn up behind their two fallen comrades. The grip on his sword is already slipping from all the blood and even though he didn’t sustain any critical injuries his back hurts where the now dead Amanto focused his hits on. He crouches down in a fighting stance, gripping the hilt of his sword with all ten fingers.

“Gintoki!” 

Zura’s voice bounces off the walls as he rushes past two more Amantos, barely noticing them before slicing their necks. 

Gintoki wouldn’t call it relief but he isn’t as irritated as usual at Zura’s appearance. He also starts to notice the noise of clashing metal and familiar shouts from outside and lets out a deep sigh. 

“Finally showing up after I already did most of the work,” he snaps at Zura who follows his example and takes his sword in both hands. 

“No one told you to rush in and take the entire division on your own.” Zura doesn’t look at him but Gintoki can hear the frown in his voice. “We met with Sakamoto and the Kiheitai on the way.”

Gintoki stiffens. So they’re back. Great. Wonderful. Definitely what he needs. Sakamoto’s dumb face laughing in his face and Takasugi ignoring him because he’s a stuck-up prick who doesn’t understand Gintoki is also just a fucking man. 

“No wonder you’re late. If you let Sakamoto lead the way, you probably ended up back in Edo before coming here.” He somehow knows he’s being needlessly difficult but his already bad mood somehow hits another low. He is cold, he is tired and he would  _ love _ to not waste his time wondering what someone like Takasugi is thinking with his idiot brain.

“We’re only late because  _ you _ couldn’t wait! And then you dragged Sato and Nakamura in this mess, really!”

“Whatever, Mom.”

“It’s not Mom, it’s Zura! I mean Katsura!”

“Are you brainless monkeys done?”

Before them appears Takasugi in a spray of blood. The five Amanto who have been nice enough to not interrupt their bickering fall to the floor like puppets whose strings are cut. 

Wiping his blade on his forearm, Takasugi steps over their bodies and eyes Gintoki and Zura. 

“How did you two survive the last few days?”

Immediately straightening themselves, Gintoki and Zura both tilt their chins up to look down on Takasugi even more. 

“Huh? Looks like you finally found a sword in the children’s department,” Gintoki sneers. “May I borrow it later to cut my apple?” 

He dodges Takasugi’s strike but nearly slips on the bloody floor. 

“I’ll cut that apple for you,” Takasugi replies calmly. “When it’s in your mouth.”

“What does that even mean, you fucking moron?”

“Who re you calling moron, moron?!”

They’re both in each other’s faces before Zura can even get in a word. There is some snarling and grappling and then there is a loud laugh that makes both Gintoki and Takasugi direct their ire towards the entrance of the inn.

“Hahahaha! Looks like everything’s settled in here! That calls for some celebration! Kintoki, Takasugi, Zura!”

Both hands on his hips, Sakamoto just stands there, laughing and being a nuisance in general.

Takasugi and Gintoki exchange a quick glance before letting go of each other. Takasugi straightens his collar.

“Guess we’re done here. How are things outside?”

“Can’t complain, hahaha! Everyone we wanted to save was saved and everyone else is dead.”

Gintoki watches as Takasugi passes Sakamoto at the door without looking back. Unfortunately, Sakamoto does not follow but latches onto Gintoki with something he couldn’t care less about. Absentmindedly he smooths down his bloody haori and flicks the blood off his blade. 

Looks like they’re no longer ignoring each other, after all.

The owner of the inn introduces himself as Kinoshita  _ something _ and explains that this place is the famous Kinoshita inn hot spring. Gintoki has never heard of this place before but it does look nice. Hidden and comfortable. 

Kinoshita and his family are flaming Joui supporters. Well, more like Kinoshita himself is. His wife, simply introduced as Kinoshita-san, seems nice enough but Gintoki can’t shake the feeling she doesn’t want anything to do with them. The girl he saw earlier through the binoculars is one of the daughters and she watches them all with such distrust that Gintoki decides to avoid her as much as possible. The other daughter who is usually accompanied by the two youngest children, a boy and another girl, is a lot more responsive. She’s openly laughing with Gintoki’s comrades and offers her help where she goes.

Kinoshita offers them to stay the night. He can’t provide them with food since he and his family are barely getting by as it is but they have the space to share and taking a bath in their hot springs has apparently brought back dying men. 

Sakamoto’s and Takasugi’s hunt for resources and people was successful too, apparently. Sakamoto shares some of the acquired food with the Kinoshitas while a few new faces greet Gintoki as he tries to skulk off. He manages to dodge Zura appointing everyone with some tedious tasks (wiping the blood off the floor) and Takasugi already establishing some training schedule for the upcoming days (cleaning duty, training, fighting, eating, sleeping, cleaning duty-), so he is now looking for the perfect spot to nurse his bruising back and catch some shut-eye. The sun is still out and it’s pretty nice outside this close to the hot springs. Maybe he’ll even take a bath later. 

Kanae, the outgoing daughter, is not bad looking either. She might feel like massaging his wary shoulders. 

Of all people to catch up to him, though, it’s the worst possible.

“Kintoki!”

Debating whether he should sprint off or hide behind a tree, Sakamoto manages to reach him. He slaps Gintoki’s back as a greeting and for a moment Gintoki thinks he sees stars. 

“Did ya already look for me, Kintoki? Don’t worry! I got’cha covered, hahaha!”

“Why the fuck would I look for you, idiot?” Gintoki snaps with tears in his eyes. The entirety of his back is aching and he starts to wonder if he might be worse off than he initially thought. 

Sakamoto leans down a little and covers his mouth as if to share some strictly confidential information. “The thing you asked me to provide you with? Remember? Before I left?”

Gintoki blinks. 

Huh?

Ah.

Ah!

“Did you get it?” 

He can’t help his eyes growing with hope. Sakamoto simply chuckles and slips a hand inside his haori. 

“Please, who do you take me for?”

With a pleased smile he puts the desired object in Gintoki’s hand. 

“You’re welcome.”

Gintoki looks down at the rectangular object in his hands. 

It’s familiar alright.

“Tatsuma,” he starts.

Sakamoto still looks very pleased with himself. “What is it, Kintoki?”

Then, the DVD case lands squarely in Sakamoto’s face, along with Gintoki’s fist.

“WHAT IS THIS?!”

Holding his bloody nose, Sakamoto looks up to Gintoki from where he landed on his ass. “Ow! Ow! Ow! What’s your problem?” He holds up the DVD as if Gintoki just made a mistake and he actually wanted it in the first place. “You asked me to get you a Jam! Do you know how hard it was to get it? I had to ask around and get into some shady businesses! I didn’t even question what you want to do with a DVD without a DVD-player or a TV!”

Taking a deep breath, Gintoki squats down before Sakamoto and grabs the front of his haori.

“ARE YOU STUPID?! DID YOUR BRAIN ROT AND FALL OUT AS A CHILD? ARE YOU ACTUALLY BRAINDEAD, SAKAMOTO? WHAT THE HELL IS JAM? IT’S  _ JUMP,  _ YOU SHITHEAD!”

Gintoki picks up the copy of  _ Space Jam  _ and smacks it into Skamoto’s face once more. 

“Go bald!”

Their little scene attracts a few onlookers but honestly, Gintoki can’t bring himself to give a single fuck. He spits somewhere in Sakamoto’s general vicinity and stalks off to wherever. Fucking  _ Space Jam _ !

He sees Zura and Takasugi approaching and shoulders past them with more force than strictly necessary. Something hits his chest and Gintoki stumbles back in surprise. With his arm outstretched, Takasugi pushes something against Gintoki who blinks in surprise at the well-known shape and weight of hundreds of pages brought together for the single purpose of giving young readers hopes and dreams beyond their own imagination.

“Just so you know, Muffy’s brother Spade dies in One Park.”

Huh?

“Wha-” Gintoki starts but Takasugi is already walking away. He smirks at Gintoki over his shoulder before lifting his hand in a mocking wave.

Looking down at the cover of the magazine, Gintoki freezes. 

“That’s fucking  _ Magazine,  _ you asshole!”

In the end there is barely time for Gintoki to wash the blood off his hands before Zura and Kinoshita force manual labor on him. Isn’t he the one who saved their lives? Why is he suddenly repairing shoji doors and carrying bags of rice from the mountain? They should be carrying him around!

The only good thing coming from all of this is the fact that he’s not seeing Sakamoto who is complaining to everyone about Gintoki’s “rough love”.

It’s almost sundown when Kinoshita-san and Kanae gather everyone for the meal. Some of the men have already used the hot springs and run around in nothing but yukata or undergarments. Gintoki, still in his dirty clothes, watches them with wary eyes. Was everyone slacking off while he was disposing bodies in a ditch outside the hot springs area? He really feels like lashing out. But before he can even think of grabbing the laughing idiots swarming in, Zura directs him to one of the bonfires behind the inn and pushes him on the ground with a steaming bowl of freshly cooked rice. 

Soon, Sakamoto, Takasugi and the Kinoshita family join them while everyone else starts to gather around different fires. 

With everyone eating and drinking, it feels almost… homely. Even Kinoshita-san and the younger daughter, Aki, relax into the atmosphere. There is talk about the war, the surrounding country, the unknown future and Gintoki smiles a little in his sake cup when Kanae talks right over her old man with plans for the inn. 

“What’s this?” Zura interrupts a father-daughter argument when Aki returns with a big pitcher in both hands. A sweet and fruity smell hits Gintoki.

“It’s fruit punch,” Kinoshita-san explains as she motions for Aki to fill up several cups. “It’s an old family recipe.”

“An old family recipe… for fruit punch?” Takasugi asks disdainfully. He’s been nursing the same cup of sake for the last half an hour or so. Gintoki noticed as much because as usual he can’t help his eyes straying towards him. 

Aki offers Takasugi a cup with fruit punch but he declines. She looks disappointed and Gintoki feels a stupid pang of jealousy at the way she seems to linger around him. For fuck’s sake he really needs a bath and 2 weeks of uninterrupted sleep. When Aki comes up to him next, he says as much. He stretches his arms over his head and hides the wince at the pull of his muscles in his bruised back. 

“I guess I’ll look into the mystery of those hot springs myself,” he says with a vague gesture over his shoulder. “Don’t wait for me.”

“Shall I show you the way, Gintoki-san?” Kanae offers immediately, already standing up.

Gintoki just waves her off. “Nah, I’m good.”

Shouldering his sword, he strolls back inside the inn where Kinoshita-san laid out towels and yukata for guests. Most of his comrades prefer the weight of their armour, no matter how dirty and raddled it is. Gintoki understands where they are coming from. Feeling protected and sheltered is almost impossible on the battlefield. Even when they stay between fights or know they are safe this time, an attack could always happen. 

Nonetheless, he takes one of the simple gray yukata with him as he leaves the inn and follows the stone path to one of the outer pools in the area. A few lanterns float over the surface of the water and serve as some sort of ghost lights, leading the way through the steam. 

He leaves his clothes, sword and sandals in a dirty pile under a pine tree and places the folded yukata and towel a little further.

With a barely contained groan he slips in the hot water and lets it engulf him from his chin downwards. It's hardly deep enough to reach his chest when he sits upright, so he lowers himself until the tips of his hair float beside him and he is nothing but a hot, pulsing body. He watches a lantern glide past his face and muses about the flickering flame and how easy it would be to stub it out. 

His bruised back is throbbing with his heartbeat. It's no longer the sharp pang of pain but more like a soothing rhythm Gintoki finds himself relaxing into. He closes his eyes and inhales the pungent smell of the hot spring mixed with the tangy odor of the pine tree right above his head. Maybe these particular hot springs  _ are _ special; hidden as they are.

Gintoki is not sure how much time passes. Not enough to wrinkle his skin but long enough for him to doze off. He startles when water laps over his lips. Someone just entered. The tiny waves calm down and Gintoki doesn’t even have to open his eyes to know who joined him. 

Zura and Takasugi used to joke as children that Gintoki acted more like an animal than a boy: His ability to smell a person; to sense a presence before anyone else would (except for Shouyo-sensai). It’s not because his mother was a wolf (at least he thinks so) or his demonic brethren left him on earth to feast on human flesh; he simply had to learn to distinguish people by smell. Eyes aren’t as reliable as they ought to be. Especially not to a boy with nothing but an old, rusty sword and an empty belly to fill. 

So, yes. He recognizes Takasugi by his smell alone. Him more than anyone else, probably. Hell, he knows his voice, his movements, his touch, his taste… 

And it kind of annoys Gintoki. To know someone in every sense of physical possibility and yet being completely incapable of knowing what exactly is going on in that pretty little head of his long-term rival, comrade and… well. Person. His… person. 

Gintoki peers through half-closed eyes and spots Takasugi a little further away from him, sitting with his arms outstretched over the rim of the pool and both eyes trained on him, unblinking. 

Tsk. 

So he wants something. Figures.

Gintoki opts to ignore him. After all, that’s what Takasugi usually does. Or did the last few days before his departure with Sakamoto. 

“It’s unusual for you to keep your mouth shut,” Takasugi muses, a smug smile clearly audible in his voice. 

Tension builds up somewhere behind Gintoki’s forehead.

“I wasn’t aware we were talking again,” he replies, a little strained maybe.

Takasugi snorts. “Are you offended?”

“Like hell I am. You’re the one with the prickly mood.”

“Hmm. So you are offended. What? Because I didn’t say goodbye when I left? I didn’t think we had that kind of relationship.”

What the hell is the bastard sounding so mocking for? Gintoki sits up and glares over the floating lantern at Takasugi. Takasugi doesn’t react. He put his head in his neck and looks at some unseen spot in the sky. 

Arrogant asshole.

“ _ You _ acted all offended and sore after I…” he trails off, feeling his head flush and not from the heat of the water.

Takasugi chooses now to look at him. 

“After what? When you came on my face after I explicitly told you  _ to not come on my fucking face.” _

He’s still pissed about it, Gintoki notes. He rubs the back of his neck a little sheepishly. 

“Better than down your throat.”

Probably the wrong thing to say if the way Takasugi’s jaw starts to work is anything to go by. 

Clearing his throat, Gintoki tries to back-paddle. “What I  _ mean _ is that it kind of hit me unprepared, alright? It was your first time, I didn’t think you’d be that good, okay? Water under the bridge, right? We talk to each other again. I apologized, yeah? You learned something. I learned something. Isn’t it great?” He couldn’t help the nervous laugh. 

To be completely honest, Takasugi’s offer to suck him off on his birthday was kind of the hottest thing that has ever happened to Gintoki. Granted, he’s only 19 and maybe did one or two things with one or two (or three or four) people but seeing Takasugi going down on his knees before him with intent in his eyes kind of sent him completely off. So what, he shot his load a little too fast; a little too unprepared? Big deal! Takasugi looked really hot there! 

(And extremely pissed off. He’s never made a secret out of his dislike for certain fluids on his skin.)

“Yeah, I learned to never cross blades with that dirty sword between your legs ever again,” Takasugi bites back.

“What are you calling dirty now?!”

Unconsciously, they moved towards each other; two magnets pushing and pulling. Gintoki can see the droplets in Takasugi’s hair and the shadow his lashes cast on his cheek. He’s suddenly reminded of a younger Takasugi. Stuck in that weird place between boyhood and adolescence; his face slowly growing some sharper edges and his eyes no longer too large for his face. Bokuto in one hand, sweat dripping from the tip of his nose and a grim frown on his face. 

It was probably the first time Gintoki thought of him as  _ cute.  _ A fleeting thought, back then. Nothing more than a curious tickle in the back of his mind before it was overwritten by his need to beat down his rival. 

Still.

Without his cutting uniform, the tired lines around his eyes and tight-lipped expression, Gintoki is once again reminded of the roundness of Takasugi’s cheeks, the red tips of his ears and the way the corner of his eyes crinkle when he smiles. He doesn’t smile right now, not that he smiles much at all. But Gintoki knows it’s there and he can’t help the thought.

_ Cute. _

“What?”

Ah, he said that out loud.

“I said  _ Brute.  _ You are a fucking brute, Takasugi-kun. Get a grip or you might end up like Sakamoto, rampaging over the battlefield with all muscle and no brain!”

“Sakamoto has no muscles.”

“And also no brain!”

“Did you stay in here too long? Did you cook the last bits of your brain?” 

_ Oi, isn’t this conversation totally derailing right now?  _

Well, at least they aren’t talking about Gintoki’s shooting star performance anymore.

Clicking his tongue, Takasugi is actually the first one to break eye contact. He glides a little back so there is a bit of distance between them.

“Where will you sleep tonight? Zura said you wouldn’t stay in the inn.”

Gintoki blinks. “Huh?”

With a roll of his eyes that pisses Gintoki off, Takasugi repeats his question a little slower as if Gintoki is dim-witted. “Sleep. Where will you sleep tonight?”

“I understood you the first time, asshole! It’s just a stupid question!” He splashes Takasugi with a bit of water which makes the competitive idiot return the favor tenfold. 

There is a bit of squabbling before Gintoki accidentally knocks over one of the floating lanterns and they linger for a moment in darkness before the moon pushes past a few scattered clouds and another lantern comes their way.

Gintoki is now standing, water sloshing over his navel while Takasugi is back to being neck-deep in the water. He looks up to Gintoki, eyebrow quirked like a challenge. Gintoki sniffs and rubs his nose.

“I asked Kinoshita-san for the house next to the stable.”

He doesn’t even know why he tells Takasugi as much. He specifically asked for it because he wanted to be left alone. 

Camaraderie is great and all but if Gintoki has to see Zura’s open eyes once more when he wakes up in the middle of the night because Sakamoto can’t shut up in his sleep and someone else uses his back as a footboard, he’ll commit mass murder. 

Takasugi nods. “Alright. I’ll meet you there then. I have something I want to show you.”

"That wasn't an invitation!" Gintoki snaps with no real heat. 

Also, show him something? 

Gintoki's mind wanders to baskets of sweets, a hidden  _ Jump _ magazine under his pillow to a cursed talisman, a huge spider in the folds of his futon or the severed head of an Amanto general. With Takasugi, all of it seems possible.

Takasugi pushes himself up and walks towards the pool's edge. Gintoki follows him mindlessly for a few steps until Takasugi turns around and gives him a smirk over his shoulder. 

"Don't leave me waiting. You know I don't have the patience for it, Shiroyasha-san." 

With that he steps out of the water in one graceful motion and several pieces click together in Gintoki's mind. 

He can't help leering at Takasugi's lithe backside. The water running down his spine and over the firm ass Gintoki feels like grabbing. 

And he knows what Takasugi is doing. 

Like hell Gintoki is letting himself be manipulated like this! His brain sits between his ears and not between his legs!

"You better learn to wait, then!" he shouts after Takasugi who is now nothing more but a vague shape through the steam. 

"I'm not done here, yet! I'll relax for at least another hour! Maybe I'll even sleep here!"

Takasugi doesn't answer.

With an irritated frown settling on his face, Gintoki sits back down in the water, arms crossed and fingernails digging in the soft skin of his upper arms.

The nerve of that midget bastard! As if Gintoki can be seduced just like that! There is a lot more finesse and skill required to make him follow anyone into the deep of the night.

He closes his eyes again, willing his mind to relax and hardening his resolve to stay put in the process.

The only thing hardening is the resolve between his legs, though. 

It’s not like he hasn’t seen Takasugi’s naked body like a hundred times already. They grew up together, they fought together, they ate together and they bathed together. He’s seen the scars on all of their bodies multiply over the years. He made fun with Zura that the only thing growing in Takasugi’s case was his dick and not his height. 

And yet, ever since they started this…  _ thing _ between them, he hasn’t seen Takasugi without any of the layers of his armour. Sure, he felt him up here and there and he had his face between his legs but this can’t compare to Takasugi’s naked form tempting him from behind. 

Where the fuck did the bastard even learn doing that shit? He’s a fucking brat who stumbled through their first few kisses like a newborn deer. It’s not that he’s a bad kisser, he just seems unpracticed and awkward. Well, until he doesn’t. Somewhere in the last four weeks or so Takasugi had suddenly figured out all of Gintoki’s little buttons and presses them now with vigor. 

Gintoki sniffs and sends a stern look to his groin.

_ Don’t be fooled, little Gin-san! He’s just playing games with us! He wants something and we both know he is not above using his sexual charm! _

Like Takasugi even possesses any kind of charm!

Gintoki thinks of the crinkles around his eyes when he smiles. His squashed cheek against the palm of his hand when he tries to stay awake. The silent look of shock when Gintoki took him in his mouth for the first time.

And with a horrible drop in his stomach, Gintoki realizes his heart skips a beat. Somewhere in his chest it flutters at the thought of Takasugi being Takasugi around him and it’s with absolute certainty the most disgusting feeling Gintoki's ever experienced. 

Oh god, did he get hit on the head earlier? 

Realizing Takasugi is sexy and good-looking is one thing. Gintoki is aware that Takasugi is attractive, ever since his crotch developed its own will. But going as far as enjoying Takasugi for who he is… unthinkable. 

“To hell with it!” he murmurs to himself and gets up. 

He could be dead tomorrow. He’d rather die after a night well spent than worrying over matters of the heart. He pats his dick and gives it an encouraging nod. “You deserve this. Just tell the idiot in my chest to shut the fuck up.” 

With that he pushes himself out of the pool and hastily dries himself off before throwing on the yukata. 

The fabric is pretty thin and he soon starts to shiver on his way to the stable on the outskirts.

He picks up speed. 

Has the way always been this long? It’s hard to see anything through the steam from the hot springs. Is he still on the right path? Huh, what’s that noise? They don’t have ghosts here, right? What hot springs inn has ghosts? Do ghosts take baths? 

He walks a little faster. 

In the end he reaches the stables in a healthy jog. Obviously just to stay warm on this chilly October night. He passes the empty horse stalls and slides open the doors to the little house next to it. It’s nothing more than a room with a hearth, a table with worn seat cushions and a ladder to the loft above. 

Gintoki chose to stay here for the night after carrying boxes and bags of supplies to it the entire day. No one else had claimed it; most of the men prefer to stay together or at least close to a bigger group. Gintoki didn’t want to miss the chance for some solitude and the possibility of doing things he can’t do while being surrounded by nosy, good-for-nothing idiots.

Now, as he enters, he’s greeted by his futon, spread out already, and Takasugi’s indifferent figure lying there on his side, head propped up on one hand while the other flips a page in Gintoki’s  _ Magazine _ .

He’s dressed like he’s ready for bed. He wears his own yukata, clothes neatly folded beside him and there is a damp spot on Gintoki’s pillow where little droplets fall from his hair. 

Gintoki takes in the scene before him. That’s his futon, alright. His pillow, his blanket. His  _ Magazine _ . Granted, it’s fucking  _ Magazine _ but beggars can’t be chosers and he’s really desperate for some grant speeches and stupid battles that drag on for another 15 chapters. He takes another step inside, leaving his sandals, sword and dirty clothes by the door. He’s ready to snatch the magazine and kick Takasugi’s ass out when he sees it. 

_ It _ being the small box sitting there on the floor next to the futon. It's a simple yellow and white with cute little figures on it that Gintoki knows well enough. He doesn’t even have to read the black letters to know what it is. With the pink bottle not far away, Gintoki feels his knees weaken. 

Is this really happening?

Takasugi shifts a little, his naked feet sliding over the bedding. He’s still not looking up.

Gintoki clears his throat. 

Takasugi turns a page; a drop of water falls on the pillow.

If it weren’t for his dick on the line, Gintoki might have joined the little game Takasugi is playing right now but the sight of the Okamoto Rilakkuma condoms box and the strawberry scented lube sends Gintoki down on all fours and he crawls over to Takasugi on his futon. Before he can reach him and make a dubious offer, though, a foot plants itself right in his face and he’s pushed back. 

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Takasugi asks, foot tensing in Gintoki’s face.

Gintoki tries to look past it and feels a certain heat pool in his belly at the green eyes glaring at him through a few strands of wet hair. He grabs Takasugi’s ankle and pushes it off. He can’t help the little gasp when he catches a glimpse of something rather scandalous. 

“No underwear, Takasugi- _ kun _ ?” 

Even though it’s just  _ Magazine _ , it still hits pretty hard when thrown in the face. 

Gintoki peels the pages off his face and is immediately greeted by the sharp blade of Takasugi’s sword. There are a few centimeters between him and the gleaming steel, so he gently places the magazine somewhere on his right before giving Takasugi a calm nod. “I knew you’d be into kinky foreplay. For a virgin, you are very sure of yourself.”

The hilt of Takasugi’s sword barely misses his nose and Gintoki manages to wring it from his grasp. 

Dissatisfied, Takasugi clicks his tongue. He watches as Gintoki puts the sword down and turns back towards him. With crossed legs and both hands braced on his thighs, Gintoki bows his head a little.

“Would you like to have sex with me, please!”

That was really not what he wanted to say! What the hell?! Is he asking or demanding here?!

He peers up at a dumbfounded Takasugi (cute) who looks at him like he might just burst a blood vessel (not that cute but still kind of cute).

“Are you an idiot?” Takasugi asks, voice a little shaking. If Gintoki didn’t know him so well he wouldn’t even notice. 

“You brought the condoms and lube! So who is the real idiot here, huh?" 

Takasugi glances at the incriminating evidence. He takes both, the box with the condoms and the bottle of lube, and places it between them. They mirror each other now. Both sitting cross-legged (Gintoki catches sight of where Takasugi’s yukata parts and shows off his naked leg) like they are about to discuss a serious deal with life and death consequences. 

Gintoki combs through his hair and gestures vaguely at the entire set-up. 

“Do you want to? I mean… go all the way with uh me?”

“How many more times are you going to ask? Do you see anyone else here?”

Gintoki knows he should keep his own temper in check. He’s 90 % sure that Takasugi’s nerves are making him act like a bitch right now. It’s his first time and even though they already went to almost all the bases before, doing a homerun is still something entirely different. And it’s certainly something entirely different doing it with someone you know and - well. Like. He feels himself flush at the thought of what Zura told him this morning. 

Watching Takasugi tap his finger on his knee in a nervous rhythm makes Gintoki almost want to get up and leave. It might be the biggest asshole move he’s ever pulled yet but shit does it feel compelling. He doesn’t like thinking about any of this and he doesn’t want to think about Takasugi and what he means to Gintoki and vice versa. 

On the other hand, Gintoki really really wants to kiss him right now. He usually wants to these days. Punch him and kiss him. He wants to be able to tell everyone who is giving Takasugi certain looks when they think no one’s watching to go and literally fuck themselves because Takasugi is off limits. He wants to share a sleeping space, simply because he sleeps a lot better with another body close beside him. It only happened twice so far and Takasugi is always gone when Gintoki wakes up but it’s something he would like to experience regularly.

Gintoki looks at the defiant green eyes scrutinizing him, the pink lips pressed in a thin line and feels something tightening and loosening in his chest.

“Do you know how this works?” he asks, voice sounding too gentle in his own ears.

Takasugi scoffs. “We all sat through Sensei’s lecture on that.”

Gintoki’s lips quirk up in a smile. He was well aware of everything even before he ran into Shouyou-sensei but the lecture was nonetheless a traumatic event for all students involved. 

“Yeah, that’s the theoretical part. It’s a little different in practice.” 

No matter how fucking unpleasant and awkward it is, Gintoki feels like he has to talk about this. Takasugi likes to put on his thorny kid act but it’s obvious he’s so far out of his comfort zone he might just die if pushed a little.

“I know how two men fuck each other, Gintoki. Just because I haven’t done it myself doesn’t mean I’ve never seen it.”

God, why does he have to make everything so damn difficult? 

“Yeah? So how do you think this will go? Do you fuck me? Do I fuck you?” he asks with a bit of force. He grabs the box of condoms and shakes it a little. “Have you ever put one of these on? What about other preparations?”

There is a bit of silence. Then, Takasugi takes the box from his hands and puts it down. He leans back a little, presenting Gintoki his open front.

“Just fuck me. We both were always better with learning by doing.”

It would be a lie to say those words didn’t go straight to Gintoki’s dick. 

He’s offered the all inclusive pass by the most closed off guy under the stars and all he can think about is that he doesn’t want to hurt him. Like he doesn’t fantasize about putting Takasugi over the next hard surface and spank him into oblivion. But that’s just between him and the few things recently awakened in him.

Gintoki nods. “Fine.”

“Fine,” Takasugi echoes.

“Okay.”

Before awkward silence can settle in, Gintoki leans forward. “Here I come then.”

“If you’re going to narrate every step now, I will cut your dick off and use it myself.”

The idea of Takadugi fucking himself with Gintoki's dick shouldn’t be as alluring for Gintoki as it is but he'd rather participate in everything himself, so he silences Takasugi with a kiss.

This is familiar territory for both of them. It's a constant pushing and pulling and lately Takasugi is a lot more comfortable with biting. They haven't really talked about it but Gintoki is pretty sure Takasugi wants it to be a little rougher sometimes. He's always the one who pushes Gintoki until his grip tightens and there will be bruises afterwards. 

Gintoki tries and fails to wrap his head around the fact that Takasugi usually demands control but always ends up coming undone the second he loses it. 

This time, Takasugi slips his tongue in first and Gintoki feels a smug smirk against his lips. He gives Takasugi an impatient push until his back is hitting the futon.

It is a sight to behold. 

They've never done this in bed. None of them has ever been completely naked. The various stages of undress they have seen each other over the past few weeks were always done in a hurry because someone could walk in on them any moment. 

Gintoki's already undressed a few girls and guys in the past but now, with his fingers hovering over the neatly done knot on Takasugi's yukata he feels a nervous tremble in his hands. 

He knows what will greet him when he pushes the yukata apart. It's not like he didn't see Takasugi not even half an hour earlier completely naked before him. 

But it's not really about nudity, isn't it? It's about the shift in their relationship. The vulnerability he's offered by someone who usually fights him every step on the way. 

A tug on his own clothes brings Gintoki out of his stupor. 

"Take that off," Takasugi orders with another emphatic tug on his clothes.

Gintoki chuckles. He feels nervous, elated and stupidly high. 

"You want a striptease?"

Takasugi smirks up to him. He's on his back, yukata disheveled and a blush high on his cheeks. It makes Gintoki want to commit a few crimes.

Straightening up, Gintoki shakes his hair a little and proceeds to untie his own yukata. He does wear underwear and he notices Takasugi rolling his eyes at the silly print. 

"Not sexy enough for you?" he asks playfully as he shakes himself free from the sleeves.

"If I wanted sexy I wouldn't be here," comes the unimpressed response that ticks Gintoki a little off. 

He flips Takasugi off before grabbing the little bastard's obi and making short work of it. The untied Yukata pools around Takasugi's displayed body and Gintoki feels his dick hardening at the blush deepening in Takasugi's face and creeping down to his chest. 

Gintoki licks his lips. "That's really a good look on you."

He catches the leg before he can be kneed in the crotch. 

"Now it's too late to be shy," he says as he lets his eyes roam freely. 

Takasugi's body tells a story in and of itself. 

Scars and bruises that Gintoki has himself from fighting a war day in, day out. Some he knows the stories of. Some he doesn't. Old marks that are from before Gintoki even met him.

Absentmindedly, he traces such a scar with his thumb, just above Takasugi's navel. He feels the muscles tense under his touch and looks up to where Takasugi is watching him. There is a strain in his expression that makes Gintoki want to ease it off.

So he leans forward and presses his lips right between Takasugi's knitted eyebrows. 

"I'll have to prepare you." 

"I know." Takasugi looks like he wants to add something but decides against it and instead chooses to fix his eyes on the ceiling behind Gintoki's head. 

Gintoki tilts his head to the side. "What?" 

God, he really must be out of his mind. He has a naked Takasugi right between his legs, a dick straining against his boxer shorts and he still tries to talk his way through this! What happened to his man of action shtick?!

Takasugi's gaze flickers to him for a second before evading him again. "Nothing. Go ahead."

Now, this is really suspicious. Gintoki saw Takasugi lie about his breakfast once without so much as breaking a sweat. What kind of idiot does he take Gintoki for? 

"You're hiding something, Bakasugi," he states, voice laced with distrust. He leans a little closer before Takasugi shoves his face away with an annoyed sigh. 

"Hey, if there's anything I should know about…." Gintoki starts and tries to find it himself to fucking  _ console _ Takasugi Shinsuke of all people. "We can stop if you don't want to. We can go back to our regular program, you know? Uh, we don't have to do anything at all." 

Even though he really really wants to. But he can also just masturbate while thinking about Takasugi in his undressed state. No problem. 

Another sigh from beneath him. Now Takasugi is glaring at him. What the hell? 

"I would have never guessed for you to talk so much when you're about to fuck someone. It's really annoying."

That little…

"You're the one acting annoying! What is it? Spit it out!" 

They are about to argue again, Gintoki feels it in his bones. Argh, why can't he just take Takasugi at his word and fuck the bastard's brain out!

The air is charged with tension, both too stubborn to back down. 

Until Takasugi deflates a little under him and closes his eyes.

"I already tried it a little bit."

What?

"What?"

Takasugi scowl deepens but he still doesn't open his eyes. "Preparing. I tried it myself a while ago."

And  _ that _ gets them right on track again. 

"You tried… When?!"

They spend every waking moment together! And if they're not together then there is Zura, Sakamoto or someone else scurrying around. And Takasugi tells him he found the time to finger… oh yeah, that goes straight to Gintoki's Gin-chan.

"We spent the entire last week apart, you idiot." 

Ah, that's right.

Wait.

"You fingered yourself while Sakamoto was  _ right there? _ "

"Are you fucking stupid? We weren't together for the whole time! You know damn well what the idiot is up to the second he sets foot in a town."

Gintoki's head is swimming a little but he soon finds his focus again and gives Takasugi a calculated look.

"Did you think about me while you had your fingers up your a-"

This time he's not fast enough to evade the knee in his groin. 

"Are we doing this now, or not?" Takasugi snaps, eyes blazing and really looking good in his flushed face. 

The thought of Takasugi lying there in some strange town, playing with himself and thinking of Gintoki snaps both the man and his dick to attention. He shuffles around until he is positioned between Takasugi's spread legs and grabs for the bottle of lube.

The artificial strawberry smell fills the space between them and Gintoki takes a long sniff. 

"Where did you get that?"

"Bought it."

Accepting the curt answer, Gintoki stores the fact that it was obviously chosen to please him away for later. 

It's quite a lot of awkward shuffling and positioning necessary before Gintoki can actually go to work. 

He's done this like three times before Takasugi. He's in no way an expert but Takasugi made it quite clear that he is done with talking.

Gintoki leans forward for a kiss before moving to Takasugi's neck and down to his chest. 

It's obvious he's never done it before. He is stiff and his heart beats way too fast in his ribcage. Gintoki rests his head there for a moment, listening to it and then placing a kiss just over it. He leaves Takasugi's nipples alone (for now) because he usually reacts violently when Gintoki goes for them. He claims to not like it but Gintoki is pretty sure it's because he actually likes it a little too much. After all, he did have Takasugi's dick in his hand when he did it for the first time.

His journey leads him to Takasugi's quivering navel where he uses his tongue a little bit and then lower, where he takes him in his mouth. 

Takasugi's hands find his silver locks and he hums with content when he feels the sharp pang of nails digging in his skull. 

The smell of the soapy clean skin from between Takasugi's thighs and the strong strawberry scent make Gintoki wonder if this might be his own personal heaven. He feels Takasugi relaxing a little under him and there are a few quiet gasps when Gintoki uses his tongue just right. 

Good. 

Moving on to Takasugi's bent legs, Gintoki sinks his teeth in the soft flesh of the inside of his thigh. As it happens, Takasugi's legs are the only place on his body that is virtually unharmed. There is a scar on the back of his left thigh and naturally a few bruises but compared to his arms and especially his chest and back, there is nothing more than smooth skin for Gintoki to explore. It's one of the few things they seem to agree on: Takasugi finding pleasure in Gintoki fondling his legs and Gintoki deriving pleasure from just doing so.

Gintoki lifts the leg to place one last kiss above the knee before placing it back down and pushing both legs a little further apart. He pours some of the lube on his hands and rubs it between his fingers to warm it up.

Takasugi squirms a little but stays otherwise silent. His eyes follow Gintoki's movement and when Gintoki tells him to relax he obviously does the opposite of it. He's so tense, Gintoki knows he won't be able to enter even one finger. 

"What did you imagine when you put your finger inside you?" He still rubs his fingers against each other but his lips find their way back up, right next to Takasugi's ear. 

He feels Takasugi panting against his cheek. 

It's stupid, really, but his heart flutters in his chest when he feels Takasugi lift his arms to embrace him. Takasugi's mouth brushes against his ear and he whispers: "Sakamoto."

Gintoki jerks back. "What?"

And the bastard starts laughing. He lets Gintoki go and throws his head back in a genuine laugh that Gintoki can feel against his own chest. 

"You look really stupid right now," Takasugi snorts. 

"You fucking…" Gintoki starts but stops when he sees the mirth in Takasugi's eyes and his relaxed posture. He settles back on his knees and takes a deep breath. “Alright, you little shit. Time to get serious.” He wiggles his index finger suggestively in Takasugi’s face. “Ready?”

Gintoki tries to remember how it felt for him during his own first time. But to be completely honest, he doesn't remember much about it. It must have been two years ago or something, he's been stupidly drunk back then and the guy going down on him hasn't been someone he knew much about. Maybe that was the reason he avoids getting fucked now and usually does the fucking. The bitter aftertaste of not exactly knowing what he's done and what it felt like stuck with him long afterwards. The fact that Takasugi is currently trusting him with this makes his heart almost burst with pride and fear. This is not something anyone should ever hand over to him. He'll just break it like everything else in his life. 

"I thought you'd be a lot more smug about it and a lot less… contemplative," Takasugi says, his eyes set on Gintoki's face. The green is almost completely swallowed by his blown pupils. 

Gintoki chuckles. "I'll be unbearable afterwards, just so you wait." 

Then he puts one hand down on Takasugi's lower belly, fingertips barely touching the skin and moves the other hand between the spread legs. 

"Tell me when you want to stop." 

He only waits for Takasugi's tense nod before he inserts his index finger in a slow but steady pace. 

Takasugi pants heavily at the intrusion and tenses up badly at first. But they do find a rhythm rather quickly. It's almost like two cogs set into motion; they work effortlessly together if only they want to. 

Soon, Takasugi lifts his ass a little and locks his lithe legs around Gintoki's lower back. He’s still kneeling there, unable to look away from Takasugi relaxing into it and slowly turning strained gasps into little moans. 

Oh, he's enjoying this.

Gintoki slows down a little, caught off guard at how very different Takasugi is looking right now. Sure, he’s seen him come undone a few times by now. All thanks to his very own doing. Gintoki can say without bragging that he’s probably the only one knowing about this side of Takasugi. 

(Somewhere in his mind he hears Zura saying something about a swordsmith but pushes that down to the other few things he refuses to acknowledge. There is a spot for feelings and thoughts like this and they all belong to a very dark, very small chamber behind his heart.)

“Don’t start gloating just now,” Takasugi rips him from his thoughts. Gintoki feels the heel of two feet digging into his back and blinks at Takasugi who's glaring at him. Within a split second Gintoki can see himself getting pushed down onto the futon and Takasugi crawling onto him with the same expression and the blood in his head rushes down into his groin. He wiggles the finger inside Takasugi to test the waters and almost falls over when Takasugi’s legs jam him in.

Gintoki would love to say he knows what he’s doing and Takasugi just comes from his amazing lovemaking skills but it’s still awkward and somewhat tense after this.

He inserts another finger and tries to lean over to kiss Takasugi when he just misses his mark and smacks his nose in a green eye. They shuffle around a lot. Takasugi goes from completely tensed up to thrashing around when Gintoki actually manages to do something right. Gintoki also has to accept that he won’t be able to finger Takasugi while simultaneously sucking him off because he almost chokes when he tries both at once. It’s not exactly the sexiest moment in both of their (admittedly young) lives but it’s by far one of the more exciting ones. Despite a few incidents they both don’t seem to lose the mood and when Takasugi mumbles something that resembles a cut off  _ “Gin-” _ he pulls out all of his three (going four) fingers and hastily grabs for the unopened Okamoto Rilakkuma box. 

“It’s probably not the right time for a demonstration,” Gintoki laughs nervously as he rips the package open with clumsy fingers. 

Takasugi who doesn’t shy away from eye contact simply rolls his eyes. “I know how to put on a condom, you moron.”

Gintoki pauses. “On a… real life dick?”

Real life dick? What is he even saying! It’s not like his dick is a fucking circus attraction! 

Takasugi’s eyes skip to Gintoki’s crotch with the obvious tent in his boxer shorts. “...No.”

Somewhere, in the dark, closed off chamber behind his heart something thumps against the locked doors at Takasugi’s expression. Maybe it’s the flushed complexion, the swollen and parted lips, the arousal written all over his body. Or it’s the nervous twitch of the right eyebrow; the one Gintoki knows to appear when Takasugi is unsure but tries to push through anyway because he trusts in someone else’s judgement. 

The thumping grows stronger. 

“We- we should-” 

“Oh fucking hell, put that shit on and get inside me!”

Yeah, that sounds more like the Takasugi he knows. Gintoki can’t help the good-natured snort. 

That, at least, he is pretty sure about how to do.

And yet, there is a moment when they both look at each other. A moment where every word, every gesture, every day spent together passes between them. Gintoki had a similar experience right before he returned the kiss on that damn evening on some gods forsaken hill in the middle of nowhere. When Takasugi kissed him and changed everything irretrievably. 

Almost hesitantly Gintoki circles both of his palms around Takasugi's knees and pushes his legs towards his chest. Takasugi bends effortlessly and Gintoki rips open the condom wrapping with his teeth before lubing himself up, rolling on the condom and pouring some more lube over it. 

"You're not that big, Gintoki," Takasugi muses. He's still managing to look somewhat smug despite the fact that he's presenting Gintoki his ass and is literally about to get fucked in the next second. 

Gintoki quirks an eyebrow before pressing the head of his dick against Takasugi's tight entrance. 

The smug look vanishes before he can even press in. 

_ "Wait-"  _ Takasugi gasps, eyes wide open. His cheeks are a lovely shade of red and his hands shoot out to dig into Gintoki's naked shoulders.

"Alright, alright," Gintoki murmurs. He stops, barely inside Takasugi and turns his head slightly to press his lips against Takasugi's trembling wrist. 

Takasugi's shallow breathing only intensifies. "This feels… weird."

The words are hardly more than an unintelligible slur and Gintoki pauses, unsure. 

"Do you want to stop?"

Immediately, Takasugi shakes his head. "Just… do it slowly."

And Gintoki smiles. Maybe too honest and open but he can't help the bubbly feeling in his chest and the heat prickling in his abdomen when he looks down at Takasugi, legs bent, stretching Takasugi's flexibility to its limits. 

_ He's cute. _

_ Beautiful. _

Gintoki pushes in a bit more. Steady but slow. He lifts a single finger and brushes a wet strand out of Takasugi's face. 

"You're kinda sexy like this."

Takasugi manages to glare at him despite the red glow high on his cheeks and the tense quivering of his naked body. Gintoki smiles. It’s been a while since he took this much time for anything. Everything in the last few years was done in a hurry: 

Eating, fighting, fucking. 

Now he’s doing all of it with Takasugi at a pace that makes him realize it doesn’t have to be done hastily. He can share a meal with someone in silence and doesn’t have to wolf it down because he doesn’t know when the next one will come. He can fight with his back wide open because there is someone watching it for him after all. And sex doesn’t have to be this anonymous and guilt ridden experience he’s usually too drunk to remember right anyway. Shouyou-sensei told him already as a snot nosed brat that his way of viewing relationships and sexuality may not be unusual but still rather damaging. He never explained for whom exactly - Gintoki or the person on the receiving end of his affections. 

Under him, Takasugi gradually relaxes. Gintoki feels it. It feels hot inside of him and his mind drifts too far away for a moment. He traces Takasugi’s face with his eyes, takes in the deep frown and parted lips. Fingernails dig in the soft skin of his back and then he feels the heel of a foot press into his side.  “Move.”

Gintoki shifts his weight and drinks in the way Takasugi moans.

“You know, I actually like it when you order me around when we’re doing this.”

Takasugi opens one eye and kicks his right kidney with his heel. “Move.”

And oh, it’s delicious. 

Gintoki has seen Takasugi getting mad with rage before. He’s seen him laughing so hard he had to hold his belly. He’s seen him crying, screaming and coming undone beneath his own hands. But he’s never seen him like this. 

When Gintoki pulls, he follows. When Gintoki pushes, he meets him halfway. His fingers find the silver locks in Gintoki’s neck that grew so long they tickle the first vertebra of his spine and tugs him in for a kiss. Gintoki groans at the feeling of Takasugi clenching around him. 

He’s too young to do this for long.

“Let me hear you,” he pants against Takasugi’s lips when his hips snap forward, rather viciously.

Takasugi doesn’t answer. Instead, he lets his hands slide over Gintoki’s sweat covered back and digs his nails in the sensitive skin over his ass. They’re both too stubborn to give in to the other but Gintoki is really really close actually. He groans and gives another bruising thrust. Takasugi’s head hits the futon and with his eyes screwed shut and his silky hair fanned out on the white fabric he looks like something that should not be defiled by someone like Gintoki. 

Ah, fuck.

Gintoki presses them closer together, Takasugi’s own erection trapped between them which gets Gintoki the childish urge to make him come first.

He licks his lips with intent before diving a little lower, mouthing a way from Takasugi’s throat to his chest where he pauses before giving one of the nipples a shy lick with his tongue.

Takasugi goes rigid beneath him. Only, Gintoki can feel him. He feels the excitement pool into Takasugi’s stomach because this is where his flat hand rests. He feels  _ himself _ inside Takasugi. 

“You fuck-” Takasugi bites but stops halfway because Gintoki found his dick and gives it the attention it lacked for so long. Gintoki is sure no one has heard Takasugi make this noise ever before. It gets right to Gintoki’s own dick and he falters for just a moment. 

He’s got Takasugi Shinsuke pliant as clay under him, willing to be shaped and yet resisting the very idea of it. It makes Gintoki wild with want. He could so easily destroy this - whatever it is they share. And yet, he finds himself wanting to preserve it; cherish it with a care he didn’t know he possessed. 

He moves his hand, hard and fast; the way he knows Takasugi likes it while fucking him the same way. Takasugi latches onto him, fingernails digging in and there is a burning sensation all the way from Gintoki’s shoulder to his ass and he grins slightly at the mix of pleasure and pain. There really is something inside him he just started to discover.

It’s not long after that Takasugi spills over Gintoki’s hand and his own stomach. He manages to keep quiet throughout most of it until Gintoki decides to give the other nipple a playful bite. 

He probably deserved the tuft of hair ripped from his scalp at that. 

Easy to please, Gintoki follows shortly after. He comes inside Takasugi, regrettably inside the condom as well but Gintoki keeps that thought well to himself. He might have a thing for wanting to cover Takasugi in his own come for some fucked up, still unexplored reason. He knows Takasugi is not a big fan but Takasugi also has never seen his pretty boy face covered in come, so there is that. Maybe Gintoki will bring this up again. But only after he made sure to fuck Takasugi throughtly because he’s pretty sure if he ever brings this up he’s going to experience a dry spell for quite some time.

Gintoki doesn’t pull out right away. Instead, he slumps down, cheek resting on Takasugi’s heaving chest. Their earlier bath is gone to waste; both of them are sticky with sweat and other fluids and probably smell as much.

“You’re heavy,” Takasugi mutters somewhere above his head but otherwise doesn’t make an attempt to remove Gintoki. 

Gintoki hums. “You’re warm.”

He really is. Not just because Gintoki is quite literally still buried inside him but also because his body radiates such a satisfied energy it makes Gintoki want to stay like this. He wonders what Takasugi would do if he just rolled them around so he can wrap both of his arms around him and bury his nose in Takasugi’s neck. 

Ah, the door to his chamber creaks open. Before anything can creep out, though, Gintoki pulls back and out and untangles their bodies. Takasugi frowns when he pushes himself up to stand so he can remove the used condom.

“I need to piss,” Gintoki says, tying a knot in the condom and turning to leave for the adjacent bathroom with an ofuro bathtub and another door leading to the toilet. 

Gintoki is quite aware of his own cowardice. But the aftermath is usually the moment emotions boil over and things are said that are better off left alone. Takasugi said as much himself. They do not have  _ this kind of relationship.  _ They are just convenient acquaintances that happen to be compatible on a physical level. It’s good to blow off some steam with someone you know well enough to be sure he won’t die the next day. Not that anything is certain but Gintoki feels like Takasugi will only die when Gintoki himself slam dunks him into hell. 

So, yeah. No reason for him to be weird about it. He thumps against his chest with his fist and glares at the traitorous muscle pumping blood through his veins. “Shut the fuck up, you hear? Your only job is to make my dick hard, alright?”

Obviously, his heart doesn’t listen. Instead it provides his brain with afterimages of Takasugi on his futon, wet hair disheveled and laughing at him. A little mocking but mostly just with boyish mirth. It makes Gintoki want to kiss him.

Gintoki disposes the condom in the trash can beside the toilet and kicks it for good measure. After he is done relieving himself, he pauses in front of the mirror over the sink. He sees himself there but does not recognize the sweaty, blushing boy looking back. Shiroyasha, his ass. He’s naked, afraid and mostly with no idea what the hell he’s even doing. Ever since Shouyou-sensei was taken from him, from  _ them, _ he’s been fighting for one thing only. He wants to protect the one thing Shouyou left behind and so far he’s doing a shit job at it. He wonders what his teacher would say if he could see him right now. Well, not right now  _ right now _ because Gintoki’s pretty sure Shouyou would smack him blind if he knew what he’s been up to with Takasugi. He would say they’re way too young to do anything like this. They should grow a few more hairs in their face before even thinking about holding hands. Well, too fucking bad. It’s been too late for that a long time ago.

(Probably not for Takasugi but Gintoki was seduced here!)

With a sigh, Gintoki grabs a washcloth and wets it under the sink. He should probably face this… situation before things turn really awkward. 

When he returns, the first thing he notices is the empty futon. Just seeing the messy sheets sends a hot pang down Gintoki’s groin and he mentally slaps himself in the face for being so easy.  


“Did you wash your hands?”

Gintoki’s head snaps around to the window at the back of the room. There sits Takasugi. Yukata loosely tied with lots of skin showing and a kiseru in his hand. He blows a cloud of smoke out the window before facing Gintoki with a stern look. 

“I know you didn’t. So don’t even think about coming closer.”

Dumbfounded and still very much naked Gintoki stares at him. “I had my hands up your ass a few moments ago!”

Takasugi takes another drag from the kiseru. “Exactly.”

Gintoki lifts his chin defiantly. He makes a scene of waving the wet washcloth around (which he brought for Takasugi, actually) before wiping both of his hands on it, multiple times and tossing it right at Takasugi’s face. The latter evades it gracefully and makes an unimpressed face at Gintoki. 

Clicking his tongue, Gintoki stomps to where he discarded his own Yukata earlier and puts it on, not bothering tying it at all before slumping down in front of Takasugi. 

“You smoke?”

It’s actually the first time Gintoki heard of this. Pristine and perfect Takasugi smoking. He can’t possibly wrap his head around it, even though he did a lot dirtier stuff with the pristine and perfect Takasugi merely minutes ago.

“Sometimes,” Takasugi replies. He looks at the kiseru in his hand complentatively before taking another drag. This time the smoke hits Gintoki right in the face. “Someone persuaded me to try it a while ago. Seems like I acquired a taste for it.”

The faraway look on Takasugi’s face sends an ugly stab of jealousy in Gintoki’s stomach. He can’t help the bitter taste spreading over his tongue and spoiling his next words. “The swordsmith has left an impression, I see.”

Takasugi stops and glances at Gintoki from the corner of his eye. “Zura’s tongue is way too loose in that loudmouth.” 

Gintoki realizes his mistake and tries to backpedal. “Zura? What? No, I-”

“Spare me, Gintoki. Like you know anything about the swordsmith. You were quite busy yourself back then. We hardly saw you around, always chasing after the girl in the red kimono.”

Furrowing his brows, Gintoki tilts his head. He remembers the girl. Not that anything happened with her but she was the daughter of a local restaurant owner and she made for excellent company when he wrung a free mail from her old man. He's a little surprised people assumed he was skirt-chasing. “Are you jealous, Takasugi-kun?”

“As if.” But the way Takasugi’s demeanour changes, growing hard and unyielding, tells Gintoki otherwise. And even though he loves needling Takasugi about every little thing, he knows he ought to shut up. Zura said as much and it’s quite obvious that Takasugi is in fact not jealous, more like he  _ was _ jealous back then. Every time Gintoki went and found himself a distraction, Takasugi was there and…. well. Zura said enough.

Scratching the back of his head, Gintoki turns his head to look out the window. The good weather won't last. Dark clouds are rolling in from the horizon and it smells like rain. For now, though, the moon is still casting everything in a silvery hue. 

Silence settles between them. Takasugi is quietly finishing his smoke and Gintoki plays absentmindedly with the sleeve of his yukata. It doesn’t really feel like they just had sex. It’s not like the other times where there was hardly enough time to pull up their pants and then each going their ways. It’s also not like the other times Gintoki slept with someone where he either fell asleep right away or left with a few nice words. 

He catches a glimpse of Takasugi shifting awkwardly on his ass, probably sore and sticky under his clothes. Through the parted yukata Gintoki can see the post-battle bruises a lot clearer now and also - he notices as much with an inappropriate sense of satisfaction - a few love bites, courtesy of Gintoki himself. He’s really beyond help at this point. He’s always had a possessive streak. Mostly when it came to food and money but lately he’s found himself turning more often to search for Takasugi amidst their comrades. Gintoki takes a deep breath.

“What kind of relationship do we have?” 

Takasugi doesn’t answer but rather gives him a questioning look.

Gintoki feels the blood rush to his face. Takasugi probably doesn’t even remember what he said to him in the hot spring. Could this be any more embarrassing? 

Gintoki answers himself by making things a lot more embarrassing. “You said we don’t have the kind of relationship where we say goodbye to each other,” he stammers and feels the heat in his face reach new highs when Takasugi just looks more confused. “You said that! Earlier! And I’m just wondering what exactly we’re doing here! Like are we exclusive? Or is this some sort of friends with benefits scenario? Just so you know, I won’t let you be persuaded by some random stranger into doing dubious things again. You shouldn’t stick everything in your mouth that is offered to you!”

At one point during his embarrassing speech Gintoki started to point an accusing finger at Takasugi and went from sitting to kneeling on his right knee while his left foot is planted firmly on the floor.

Annoyed, Takasugi slaps Gintoki’s hand away. “Sit down, I can see your fucking dick hanging out.”

“Like you don’t enjoy the view!” Gintoki retorts but adjusts his yukata to appear less obscene. 

They stare each other down. Gintoki knows that he just made a complete fool out of himself but honestly, the only way is up when you reach the bottom. Unless, of course, he manages to start digging.

Takasugi is the first to look away but only to knock some ash out of the pipe. “You’re asking me to not fuck around?”

“I’m asking you whether you  _ want _ to fuck around.”

Takasugi sighs. “Who would have thought that behind that rotten, perm-headed slob some possessive bastard hides?”

“Oi-”

“Shut up. I don’t see us finding anyone else in this war anyway. We might as well keep it between us.”

Gintoki falters. Oh. 

_ Oh. _

Okay. 

He clears his throat.

“Now that this is settled…. Let's move on to the important part: What do you think about my per-”

“If you’re going to ask me about your fucking performance, you will only fuck yourself for a very long time.”

Gintoki slumps down, arms crossed. “Whatever. Your loss.”

Across from him, Takasugi keeps his unamused expression before shaking his head like he can’t believe Gintoki’s insolence. “I’m serious. If I catch you with your dick in anyone else I’ll make it your problem.”

Gintoki scoffs. “Please. Like I would find anyone better than you.” And wow, this was meant to sound insulting. Gintoki cringes at his own accidental compliment and evades Takasugi’s searching gaze like the night sky is suddenly the most interesting thing he’s seen in years.

“Your natural perm really sucked all the brain cells out, didn’t it?”

Gintoki is about to snap back when he notices Takasugi stretching his arms over his head and arching his back like a cat rising from a nap. The movement reveals some more skin that Gintoki admires from the corner of his eye. He’s not whipped or anything, he simply enjoys what is offered to him! He loves to indulge himself, that’s all!

The faint smell of artificial strawberry wafting to him from between Takasugi’s legs is all in his imagination,too. He’s sure of it.

“I feel disgusting,” Takasugi states bluntly and rises to his feet. “I’ll take a bath.”

Gintoki keeps seated and just looks at him dumbly. So much for strawberries between Takasugi’s legs. His eyes are captured by the parting yukata, revealing the unmarred skin of Takasugi’s leg and a hint of his groin where the fabric does a bad job of hiding it. Still no underwear then.

Takasugi takes a step towards the door that leads to the bathroom before he stops and turns partly toward Gintoki. “Are you coming?”

Gintoki’s breath hitches.

“If you want a good review on your performance I need another demonstration,” Takasugi says, a cheeky smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Gintoki is up and about before Takasugi can even blink. “Winner gets to decide what we do!” he yells before racing past Takasugi to the bathroom. 

He only hears a muffled curse behind him before he virtually throws himself in the bathroom. Unfortunately, his well-earned price in the form of proposing to Takasugi that he should allow Gintoki to come on his face this time gets annihilated right away. They do come to another agreement, though, one that leaves both of them thoroughly satisfied. 

Later, when they both lie in Gintoki’s futon, Takasugi already asleep with his back pressed against Gintoki’s side, Gintoki dares to take a peek inside the chamber behind his heart. The door is already open, he might as well see what lies behind. 

It’s nothing more than an idea. A stupid figment of his imagination. 

He sees himself, older but not much wiser. He walks down a busy street in a city he can’t quite place in his memory. Takasugi is there beside him, a few more lines where he always furrows his brows but still barely tall enough to headbutt his chin. Zura and Sakamoto are strolling to their left and right, bickering and laughing. All of them shaped and marked by their past but not broken. 

And there is Sensei, following them at the back, as usual a few steps behind but still in striking distance while watching them with that serene smile of his. There is no war to be fought. Everything Gintoki wants to protect is right here with him. He’s holding it in the palm of his hand he’s not letting it go.

Gintoki observes the scene from the outside. He's never thought much about the future, especially not about such a distant one. How can he wonder about ten years from now when he can't even be sure to survive the next ten days? 

And yet, the chamber door is open. He might as well look at it while he can.

**Author's Note:**

> This was way too much plot for them to just end up fucking HELP! It's not even plot it's just World Building™ for nothing :^)
> 
> Find me on tumblr [witchkingofanmar](https://witchkingofanmar.tumblr.com/)


End file.
